What affects perceptions of local residents toward protected areas? A case study from Kure Mountains National Park,Turkey

Local residents’ active participation is essential in protected areas to ensure achievement of conservation goals. One of the important steps for ensuring the active participation of local residents is to determine the perceptions and the factors that influence the perceptions of the local residents toward the protected area. In this context, the researchers of this study try to come up with the perception formed among the local residents toward the protected areas and especially toward Kure Mountains National Park (KMNP), the factors that would influence their perceptions and the ways how their perceptions are influenced. Multivariate linear regression was used to examine the putative influence of variables on perceptions toward protected areas. According to study results, the survey respondents have displayed a positive perception toward the protected areas in the world and in KMNP. It was determined that the respondents formed a positive perception from their economic, environmental and recreational interaction with KMNP. Also, the outcomes of this study showed that the perception developed by local residents toward the protected areas in the world and KMNP are influenced by gender, the level of satisfaction derived from the national park, duration of their residence in the national park, and that the perception that KMNP conservation are beneficial for the source values of the area, the current protection works in the world, as well as its impacts on their living conditions.     

Air concentrations of currently used herbicides and legacy compounds in the Canadian prairies,subarctic, and arctic

Passive air samplers were installed in the summers of 2005 and 2007 for 90 days at four locations in the agricultural region of the Canadian Prairies and at five locations in the Canadian Subarctic and Arctic. The presence and masses of ten currently used herbicides and three legacy compounds in the polyurethane foam disks were quantified. Herbicides 2,4-D, bromoxynil and MCPA were detected at all locations in the Canadian Prairies and in both years because these herbicides are widely applied to control broadleaf weeds in cereal crops that are an integral part of Prairie agricultural production systems. MCPA was also detected at one location in the Arctic in 2007. The detection of the other seven herbicides in the 2 years combined ranged from no detections (atrazine only) to five detections for the relatively volatile herbicides trifluralin and triallate. Triallate was the only other herbicide detected in the Arctic (2005). Legacy compounds were either not detected (alachlor) or at levels near their detection level (γ-HCH and α-HCH). γ-HCH and α-HCH were more frequently detected in 2005 than in 2007 indicating that their concentrations in Canadian air have decreased over time. γ-HCH, widely used as an insecticide in Prairie oilseed production until 2002, was detected at larger concentrations in the Canadian Prairies than in the Subarctic and Arctic. α-HCH, a manufacturing by-product in technical HCH prior to 1971 in Canada, was not detected in the Canadian Prairies but was at detectable levels in the Subarctic and Arctic as the Arctic Ocean is reported to be a major source of α-HCH to the atmosphere. We conclude that some of the most widely used herbicides in Canadian agriculture today are commonly present in the air in regions where they are applied and that a portion of these herbicides may be traveling as parent molecules to the Canadian Arctic. To the authors’ knowledge, this is the first evidence of the presence of MCPA and triallate in Arctic air samples, perhaps because previous research has seldomly monitored for currently used herbicides in this region.     

南岭北坡苔藓中多环芳烃的研究

采用加速溶剂萃取、凝胶色谱柱(GPC)净化和 GC-MS 测定,对南岭北坡两个垂直剖面上大灰藓(Hypnum plumaeformae)中的多环芳烃(PAHs)进行了定量分析.结果表明,大灰藓样品中的PAHs 以菲的浓度最高,ΣPAHs 范围为 309.2～1342.4ng/g 干重.其组成与大气沉降PAHs具有较好的相关关系.随着海拔高程的增加,大部分 PAHs 的浓度呈现出不同程度的下降趋势.通过与大流量采样器采集的气溶胶与气相PAHs 样品对比,发现苔藓更倾向于累积高环数的 PAHs,大气与大灰藓中 PAHs 的浓度有很好的相关性.     

青藏高原昆仑山垭口盆地晚上新世以来沉积物磁化率与气候变化

通过对青藏高原昆仑山垭口盆地磁化率、频率磁化率环境代用指标的分析,并与黄土—古土壤和深海δ18O记录的气候变化进行对比,结合剖面的岩性特征和年代序列以及前人所获得的粒度和孢粉资料,揭示了3.6~0.5 Ma期间昆仑山垭口盆地气候变化经历了六个阶段:3.6~2.48 Ma气候相对冷干、2.48~2.14 Ma气候偏凉湿、2.14~2.07 Ma气候相对冷干、2.07~1.16 Ma气候总体相对较湿润(其间有数次冷干波动)、1.16~0.78 Ma气候偏冷干以及0.78~0.5 Ma气候向冷湿发展。     

排水造林对小兴安岭沼泽湿地土壤酶活性及氮含量的影响

选取不同排水年限的兴安落叶松人工林湿地(1974,1985,1992,2003年排水)和天然兴安落叶松沼泽湿地,研究排水对小兴安岭沼泽湿地土壤酶活性及氮素含量的影响。结果表明:湿地排水造林后,表层土壤脲酶活性降低47.3%~84.3%;蔗糖酶活性降低49.2%~72.4%。表层土壤NH_3-N降低了6.9%~19.7%;NO_3~--N降低了63.2%~80.3%。在垂直剖面上,排水湿地的NH3-N含量随土层深度增加而增大,天然森林湿地随土层深度增加而减小。排水对土壤表层土壤酶活性及各氮素含量影响显著(P<0.05)。     

Performance study on portable water filters

This study explored the effectiveness of five portable water filters for improving certain physical, chemical and biological parameters related to drinking water quality. The parameters investigated included: turbidity, total suspended solids, true and apparent colour, conductivity, pH, alkalinity, hardness, and heterotrophic plate count. In general, ceramic medium water filters improved water quality the greatest and with the incorporation of activated carbon a further reduction in colour and dissolved solids was possible.     

Growth performance and range shift of the subalpine fir (Abies fargesii) in the Qinling Mountains,China

Trees in the subalpine environment, a particularly vulnerable area being the first to reflect climate changes, are most likely to show strong effects of climate variability. The aim of this study was to identify growth responses of subalpine fir (Abies fargesii) to climate variability, and investigate range shifts along an altitudinal gradient in the subalpine region of the Qinling Mountains, China. Standard correlation functional analysis showed different growth responses of fir trees to climatic variables between north and south aspects. In the north aspect, radial growth was significantly positively correlated with temperatures in early spring (February–April) and summer (July) of the current year, while radial growth was significantly positively correlated with temperatures in November and December of the previous year and early spring (February–April) of the current year in the south aspect. Analysis of age structure distribution displayed a decrease in number of mature fir trees and an increase in number of saplings along the altitudinal gradient on both aspects. Fir saplings/seedlings only occur in the treeline environment, and this fir population was significantly younger than that at lower elevations. Thus, fir trees show different radial growth patterns in response to climatic variability between north and south aspects, and age-class distributions along the altitudinal gradient imply an upward shift in range in the subalpine region during the past century in the Qinling Mountains of China.     

Socio-economic vulnerability to climate change in the central mountainous region of eastern Mexico

Climate change effects are expected to be more severe for some segments of society than others. In Mexico, climate variability associated with climate change has important socio-economic and environmental impacts. From the central mountainous region of eastern Veracruz, Mexico, we analyzed data of total annual precipitation and mean annual temperature from 26 meteorological stations (1922–2008) and from General Circulation Models. We developed climate change scenarios based on the observed trends with projections to 2025, 2050, 2075, and 2100, finding considerable local climate changes with reductions in precipitation of over 700 mm and increases in temperature of ~9°C for the year 2100. Deforested areas located at windward were considered more vulnerable, representing potential risk for natural environments, local communities, and the main crops cultivated (sugarcane, coffee, and corn). Socio-economic vulnerability is exacerbated in areas where temperature increases and precipitation decreases.

Electronic supplementary material

The online version of this article (doi:10.1007/s13280-015-0690-4) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.     

陕西秦岭南麓区域发展与生态效率变动研究

分析区域社会经济发展与环境的生态效率关系,描述区域发展对生态环境资源消耗和占用状况,揭示导致生态变化的重要因素,有助于为区域可持续发展政策提出奠定基础.通过对陕西秦岭南麓区域发展与生态足迹影响因素的差异性分析以及区域内2005—2014年城市发展指数CDI和生态足迹EF的测算,分析陕南三市CDI、EF和生态效率的年际变化趋势及相互影响关系.研究表明:陕南三市CDI和人均EF均呈现不断增长态势,2005—2014年,汉中市、安康市、商洛市CDI分别增长34.99%、42.91%、33.39%;人均EF分别增长66.59%、73.59%、67.04%.结果显示,陕南三市生态效率呈现先升后降的趋势,环境效率年际变化波动较大.资源效率是导致陕南三市生态效率波动变化的主要因素,与生态效率的变化趋势基本一致.化石能源消耗和建设用地占用不断增长是导致资源效率降低的主要原因.陕西秦岭南麓区域社会经济发展能力逐步增强,但资源的高消耗和占用使生态环境压力持续增大,发展循环经济、开发生态旅游等成为政策着力点.     

Throughfall and stemflow nutrient depositions to soil in a subtropical evergreen broad leaved forest in the Wuyi Mountains

１ＩｎｔｒｏｄｕｃｔｉｏｎＰｒｅｃｉｐｉｔａｔｉｏｎｉｓａｎｉｍｐｏｒｔａｎｔｓｏｕｒｃｅｏｆｎｕｔｒｉｅｎｔｉｎｐｕｔｔｏｆｏｒｅｓｔｅｄｅｃｏｓｙｓｔｅｍｓ，ｅｓｐｅｃｉａｌｙｗｈｅｒｅｒｏｃｋｗｅａｔｈｅｒｉｎｇｉｓｓｌｏｗ（Ｐａｒｋｅｒ，１９...